highs and lows

we found last weekend that smsmh's grandmother on her dad's side had passed away. the funeral was scheduled for tuesday, so we scrambled to get packed and make the drive up to stockton to visit family and attended the services. grandma was in her 90's and had lived an amazing life of activity and inspiration. she left behind a husband of 64 years and three daughters along with two kids-in-law. smsmh's grandfather is typically stoic, aloof or making wisecracks. this time, though, there were moments while she was in the hospital and during the services where he showed just how much she meant to him. after the services, we decided to take him up to lake tahoe for the weekend to let him have some time out of the house and away from everything.

i had to fly back down to work on tuesday evening and ended up flying back up on thursday morning. smsmh, tc and i headed up to tahoe, where her brother and his family were already up at the condo with grandpa. grandpa wanted nothing more than to just hang out at the casino and gamble; his favorite pastime with grandma. while he hung out playing the slots, smsmh and i spent time with her brother's family. i walked down to the lake with my nephew and we talked about driving out to emerald bay and swimming out to fannet island. i had brought my wetsuit and planned on getting in some really quality workouts up at altitude.

well, as all parents know, vacationing with an infant is an exercise in flexibility. i had to scratch most of my plans for workouts and ended up squeezing in a morning lake swim before the rest of the house had woken. both friday and saturday mornings, i headed down to south lake tahoe beach [a mere five minute walk from the condo!] and jumped in the comfortably cool water of the lake and knocked out two one mile swims. the great thing about swimming in lake tahoe is how clear the water is. there's no muck or sediment floating in the water to obstruct your vision. as a result, you can almost always see the lake bed, unless the water is too deep. i was sticking to pretty shallow water, nothing more than about 30' deep, but it was fun to glide over the rock formations in the sandy floor and feel like i was flying over some martian landscape. i really wish i'd been able to get out to emerald bay or dl bliss, since those areas are much deeper and have incredibly rocky bottoms. next time, though!

friday we took the gondola ride from south lake tahoe to the heavenly summit. i put tc into the snuglie and carried him for the whole trip up. when we got up to the top, we picked one of the easier trails and hiked to one of the overlooks. it was fun to take tc on his first hiking trip. he seemed to really enjoy it and the outdoors really relaxed him...so much so that he fell asleep. he treated us to a wonderful present on the ride down in the gondola that tickled our senses. with the sun beating down on the glass and very little airflow, it made for an exciting experience.

we're back home now and very excited to not have to put tc in the car seat at all today. the guy was an amazing traveler; sleeping the entire 9 hour ride up and down and completely mellow the entire time we were away. everyone commented on how relaxed and quiet he is. well, they don't hear him when he wakes up with a wet diaper at 3am, but, hey, we'll take the compliment. still, we're happy to be home and back in settings that are familiar to him.

two-fer

two, two races in one [week]

last week was one of those weeks that goes down in the archives as something NOT to repeat. well, i guess a capitol NOT isn't necessary, since aside from being exhausted and sore, things turned out pretty well.

a friend that runs a race management company started a trail race series this summer and i wanted to get out and join in the fun, so i signed up for the second in the series; a 5 mile challenging route through one of the local wilderness parks [peter's canyon]. i did this, knowing that i had an oly on saturday to compete in, and i had every intention of taking it easy during the trail race.

until i stood at the starting line, that is.

as i chatted with other folks from the oc trail runners [eric and wendy], i noticed a guy from one wearing a jersey from one of the local tri clubs [not oc tri club, the OTHER one]. this guy was bouncing up and down, exhaling loudly and generally looking like he was one bad mo fo [but he's from that OTHER tri club, can ya dig it?]. when the horn sounded and we headed out, this guy took off but wasn't running too far ahead, so i kept an eye on him. anyone who acts all cocky like that at the start, i like to take note of how they do out on the course. my attention paid off, too. i caught up to the guy at the first of the hills and as i passed him, he tried to go with me up the incline. my desire to beat this guy was increased when i realized that every exhale he made was...um...unique.

he was growling.

yes. growling. every exhale as we went up the climb was a deep, guttural growl. this annoyed me. so, i turned on the billy goat legs and hammered up the climb, leaving the growler in the dust. when i hit the top of all the hills, a friend of mine, brian, the coach of the vanguard xc/track team, was up there cheering. he shouted good job and told me that i was in 10th place.

10th place? woah!

something clicked inside and i decided i wanted to finish well. so, i looked up the course, saw a couple runners a few hundred meters up the trail and became determined to move up a couple spots. i turned on the speed on the downhill and slowly began to reel one of the guys in. slowly but surely i caught one of them and by mile four i was safely past him and into the number nine spot. i tried hard to catch the next guy, but we were too evenly matched and he kept his lead on me.

when i crossed the finish line, brian was there again and told me that one of the guys out front was a bandit, so i actually crossed the line in 8th place. woohoo! i was ecstatic to have turned in such a solid performance on a tough course. final time was 35:33. i was very happy with my time. i spent the rest of the evening hanging out with smsmh and tc and chowing at the bbq at the finish.

when i woke early on saturday, i knew i was going to regret the effort on thursday's trail race. my quads and calves were like lead and as tight as could be. well, i didn't mind too much, since thursday's race had been such an enjoyable event. i headed down to camp pendleton, got checked in and set up in the transition area and made a couple race day friends. today would be my first race w/ aero bars on the bike and my first race with an ocean swim. i was really looking forward to it and decided i would swim and bike hard and just relax on the run.

when the horn sounded and i started the swim, i knew it was going to be a good day. the swim was a water start and my wave was stretched out over a 100y front. no crowding. none. i think someone grabbed my ankle at one point, but aside from that there was no jostling. you can't beat that! i swallowed very little salt water and ended up having a great swim. it's hard to tell, but i think i exited the water about nine minutes faster than my oly last summer. the transition to the bike included about a .5 mile run back from the beach, so rather than run in the wetsuit, i stripped it at the beach and just jogged back with it over my shoulder.

on the bike, i was feeling really good, so i spun hard and attacked the many rises on the course. i felt great passing up the guys on the fast bikes on each climb...although i'd get caught and passed on the flats and down hills. i just can't seem to match their speed. climbing seems to be my forte. anyway, the aero bars were fantastic and by the time i finished the bike, my back felt great and the legs weren't too fatigued. i exited the bike feeling pretty fresh, all things considered, and sporting about a 10 minute lead on my previous year's time.

the run was what i expected...sorta. the marine layer had burnt off and it was getting warm. the run route was pretty flat, but along the water, which reflected the sun. i was getting a little cooked and the legs were feeling the week's effort, so i just took it easy and didn't try to turn myself inside out. i finished predictably slower than what i know i'm capable of, but my overall time for the whole race was an 11 minute pr, and that included the long transition run. my transitions were near flawless this time around and i knocked considerable time off there.

now, though, i'm fried. the legs are worked and feeling all the effort. but, despite the pain and fatigue, i wouldn't change a thing. it was a great two-fer week and i'm feeling alive again!

mr. smith goes to washington

since today is the fourth, i, like most other americans, have the day off. that means i get to spend more time with tc and pick up more of the feeding, diaper changing, etc. this morning, i landed the enviable 7am feeding. enviable because whoever gets that watch also selects his outfit for the day.

this morning, the little guy was in a right good mood. he was smiling and giggly when i got him up for his feeding, and when i plopped him down on the changing table, he didn't make a noise and actually grinned when i gave him zerberts on his belly. so, as i went through the drawers looking for an outfit, with him giggling along as i sang about the different onesies i was coming across, i kept my eye out for something to celebrate the day.

finally, perseverance paid off and i came across a blue onesie with a little likeness of the american flag on the breast. perfect! i dressed him in his patriotic outfit and i sang him the national anthem while he smiled along. once dressed, i sat down on the couch upstairs to read some of the fourth harry potter book to him and had a great laugh at how much like a little congressman he looked. i just had to shoot some pictures of him and actually got his take on what he would of done if he had been in jimmy stewarts shoes.